The Coast Guard and state and local partners have been working with the owner of a Wanchese-based shrimp trawler to remove the disabled vessel that ran aground last week on the Outer Banks.
The Coast Guard announced that as of Sunday afternoon, 6,500 gallons of diesel fuel and 1,000 gallons of oily water mixture had been removed from the fishing vessel Bald Eagle II, which grounded Dec. 7 in the Duck and Southern Shores area. Four fishermen were airlifted by Coast Guard crews that morning. No injuries were reported at the time.
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The vessel owner contracted with Moran Environmental Recovery to remove the hazardous substances. With the majority of fuel on board recovered Sunday, the focus shifted to finding remaining pockets of oily water in the fuel tanks. All oil and hazardous substances were expected to be removed Sunday, officials said.
A vessel from Charleston, South Carolina, was on its way to Duck to tow the vessel to Hampton, Virginia, for repairs.
A representative from U.S. Coast Guard 5th District Mid-Atlantic public affairs told Coastal Review on Monday that an announcement will be made when the vessel was completely removed.
Coast Guard Sector North Carolina is investigating the cause of the grounding.
